title: Mass spectrometry contamination from Tinuvin 770, a common additive in laboratory plastics.
abstract: The superior sensitivity of current mass spectrometers makes them prone to contamination issues, which can have deleterious effects on sample analysis. Here, bis(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidyl) sebacate (marketed under the name Tinuvin 770) is identified as a major contaminant in applications using liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Tinuvin 770 is often added to laboratory and medical plastics as a UV stabilizer. One particular lot of microcentrifuge tubes was found to have an excess of this compound that would leach into samples and drastically interfere with LC-MS data acquisition. Further analysis found that Tinuvin 770 readily leached into polar and nonpolar solvents from the contaminated tube lot. Efforts to remove Tinuvin 770 from contaminated samples were unsuccessful. A prescreening method using MALDI-TOF MS is presented to prevent system contamination and sample loss.
authors.affiliation: Colorado State University Proteomics and Metabolomics Facility, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Schauer
authors.forename: Carolyn J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Broccardo
authors.forename: Kimberly M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Webb
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Covey
authors.forename: Jessica E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Prenni
mesh_terms: D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D003652:Decanoic Acids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004866:Equipment Contamination; D010880:Piperidines / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010969:Plastics / Q000737:chemistry*; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
chemical_list: D003652:Decanoic Acids; D010880:Piperidines; D010969:Plastics; C083752:Tinuvin 770
keywords: LC-MS; bis(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidyl) sebacate; liquid chromatography; microcentrifuge tubes; proteomics